


Wine-Dark Sea

by hopeless_eccentric



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Andromeda Juno Steel, Getting Together, Humor, Meet-Cute, Other, Perseus Peter Nureyev, Rescue, Swordfighting, giant fish monster, i know i had to butcher the legend a bit im SORRY, i took the andromeda thing literally, juno has a sword and i think that's sexey of him, no it isn't green, ovid doesnt always write what i need to happen, slight angst, the Ruby 7 is a horse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:49:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeless_eccentric/pseuds/hopeless_eccentric
Summary: All things considered, it was a pretty good day to get eaten by a fish.The sky shone Juno’s favorite shade of blue, while the wine-dark sea reflected it just a little greener. For as much as the water crashed and lapped up at Juno’s chained feet, it was not too cold, nor too violent. Had he not been chained to a cliff in offering to a giant fish monster, Juno would have almost enjoyed the view.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 33
Kudos: 87





	Wine-Dark Sea

**Author's Note:**

> this was way too much fun to write im sorry 
> 
> Content warnings for canon-typical sarah steel (kept vague but this includes ben's death), mortal peril, swords, chain restrains (i.e. getting chained to a cliff in offering to a giant angry fish thing), minor fear of heights, references to ocean depths, blood, nausea mention, arranged marriage mention, minor gore

All things considered, it was a pretty good day to get eaten by a fish.

The sky shone Juno’s favorite shade of blue, while the wine-dark sea reflected it just a little greener. For as much as the water crashed and lapped up at Juno’s chained feet, it was not too cold, nor too violent. Had he not been chained to a cliff in offering to a giant fish monster, Juno would have almost enjoyed the view.

He tried not to think too much about the beast, sent by politics and his mother’s stubbornness and a petulant god’s temper to devour him in sacrifice. However, given that the sea creature was a few hours late, Juno had an unfortunate amount of time to consider his own life before it ended, caught in the salt-stained maw of the creature.

He had spent nearly his entire life by the seaside, be it splashing around in the warm summer waves with his brother or sitting on the beach for hours and watching the tide pull in and out while he tried to remember what it was like to build castles out of the sand and pick up shells and pretend the world wasn’t spinning forward. The ocean was almost like a third brother to the royal twins, splashing around their ankles and threatening to get a little too close to their sandy sculptures. Most importantly, it offered an excuse to stay out of the house and away from their mother.

It only felt fitting that after the queen had claimed his brother, the ocean might claim Juno in turn.

Juno almost rolled his eyes at himself. He wasn’t going to spend his last precious minutes of fish-free life being morbid, so he tried to remember what strategies he could and made an attempt to pick out five nice things he could see.

Well, first off, he liked the sky and ocean, and he was sure that if he wasn’t so chained to them, these cliffs might almost look nice too. If he squinted against the bright, nearly dusk sky, he could almost make out the shape of a seagull on the horizon.

After a moment of consideration, he shook his head, then squinted once more. The seagull’s outline against the sky morphed somehow, growing larger and nearer than any bird had any right to be. Strangest of all, it seemed far too big to be any kind of bird at all.

However, his ruminations over the appearance of the fourth thing he saw and liked were rudely interrupted by a very large, very hungry, and very important fifth thing he saw and absolutely did not like.

“Holy shit, that thing’s ugly,” Juno sputtered out when half the creature’s scaly snout shot by, emerging out of the evening-darkened sea without warning.

Juno wasn’t sure whether or not to watch the creature thrashing below, disappearing like the tide before a massive wave. It drew back and prepared to strike like any land-bound snake. The hiss of the surf grew vicious as the creature’s thrashing kicked up wave after wave of salty spray into Juno’s eyes and nose.

However, before Juno could resign himself to squeezing his eyes shut in one final act of defiance, he was distracted by a large and feathery object screaming its way towards the cliff.

“Ruby!” the man hanging onto the white mass of fur and feathers and hooves cried. “Ruby, you fabulous creature, there is a cliff right there—”

The meteor slowed enough for Juno to make out its shape. In a way, he was reminded of Icarus, if Icarus had been a man clinging to a winged horse for dear life and looking half-ready to lose his lunch.

“What?” Juno heard himself sputter, words worn away by the lapping of the sea as the monster continued to pace underneath, one green, froglike eye trained on its offered sacrifice while the other circled around to where the nauseous man and his steed were hovering.

“I—” the man panted, one hand still fixed in the horse’s pearly mane while the other adjusted his hair back into place. “This isn’t my horse.”

“Yeah, no fucking kidding,” Juno snorted.

“I stole it,” he continued, as if that explained anything. “I didn’t expect her to fly, let alone take off when I saddled her. I suppose payback was feeling particularly unkind today.”

“Yeah, can’t judge,” Juno shrugged as well as his chains would allow him.

“I assume you’ve committed some kind of crime as well?” The man on the horse continued, though his pleasant tone contradicted the hideous sneer marring his otherwise lovely face as he leaned downwards to gawk at the beast.

“Nope,” Juno replied. “I’m about to get sacrificed to that thing.”

“Good Lord,” the man swallowed.

“If it decides to just pull itself together and eat me already,” Juno added, just a little too loud. “I think the anticipation is gonna kill me before that fish or whale or snake or whatever the hell it thinks it is.”

“Don’t anger it!” The man hissed. “I’ve just stolen this very expensive looking horse, and I’d hate to be caught in the crossfire.”

“Some hero you are,” Juno replied with a huff. “So are you gonna save me and take my hand in marriage or what?”

The man blinked. 

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Call me Juno,” he returned flatly, sparing a glance from the serpent down below to look up at who he assumed to be his attempted rescuer.

When Juno had heard the exchange for his rescue, he decided that getting eaten by the sea monster would be a far kinder fate than having to marry whichever faceless, power hungry stranger came to his rescue. He would be torn asunder by those rot-reeking needles of fangs any day if it meant he didn’t get sold away to some other prince or king who just wanted his dowry, then to be done with him forever.

However, if that truly was the case with the horse thief, Juno almost didn’t mind. There were far worse people with whom to have an arranged marriage. As little as he could tell about the man’s character, something bright and clever danced within his eyes, visible even in the significant distance between the two of them. His chiton draped over his shoulder like a sated lover, revealing a shoulder and collarbone that must have been carved from the same anointed stone that depicted the gods.

He had the kind of face that Juno imagined would fit well in the palm of his hand. Before Juno could consider that for too long, however, the face twisted into a sympathetic wince.

“Your father doesn’t happen to be—”

Juno sighed.

“No, he’s not—” Juno broke off to nod at the sky. “The name isn’t an olive branch or anything.”

“Thank the gods,” the man breathed. “I live a life that tends to attract vengeance. I would hate to acquire hers.”

“So what about you, Mister Horse Thief? Got a name I can call you once or twice before I get eaten?”

The beast thrashed its teeth from the sea down below and Juno jumped, mere inches from slamming his head against the rock.

“Not particularly,” he sighed. “My apologies, Juno.”

“Make something up then,” Juno huffed.

“I last went by Perseus, if that’s any help,” the horse thief replied. “I must apologize that a nameless horse thief is coming to your aid, rather than a prince of some kind, but I must say I did not intend to come to this cliffside. I was merely holding onto the horse.”

“Great,” Juno groaned. “Now I know who I’m stuck with for the rest of my life.”

Perseus raised an eyebrow.

“Beg pardon?”

Juno wished he had the mobility to gesticulate vaguely, even if it wouldn’t make his point any clearer.

“Y’know, the whole kill one ugly fish, get one princess free deal?” He offered.

“No, actually,” Perseus replied slowly. “Do you want me to marry you?”

“No—I mean,” Juno backtracked all too quickly, just in case he should change his mind later about the handsome stranger who held his life in his hands. “I don’t really know you, but the rules say I’ve gotta marry whoever rescues me, so hope you want a kingdom.”

“I don’t, really,” Perseus returned. “My apologies, dearest. As lovely as you are, I would feel terrible forcing you into marriage without your consent.”

Juno winced. Of course he had to be a gentleman too.

“Look,” he huffed. “If you’re not gonna save me, back up a bit so you and your expensive horse don’t get—”

“Well, why don’t I rescue you and disappear?” Perseus interjected. “You don’t have to marry me if the royal family never finds out who came to your aid.”

Juno opened his mouth to reply, but the water rippled with a growl. A mossy green fin whipped by in the water, so ferocious that it spat up an ocean spray into his face. He did his best to spit away the seawater, left choking and heaving until his eyes cleared enough that he could fix Perseus with a glare.

“Great. Well, it’s been nice knowing you, Perseus, I’m about to get eaten by a giant fish if you don’t give me your sword,” Juno returned through gritted teeth when the serpent began to grow impatient of their niceties, drawing its head back once more.

“What?” Perseus sputtered.

“Your sword, dammit!”

“You can’t break yourself from your cuffs if you don’t—” Perseus broke off with a huff. 

“I’m gonna fucking die,” Juno groaned.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” he called back, digging his heels into Ruby’s side and yelling out as she dove towards Juno, far more gracefully than any kind of beast of such aerodynamics should have been able to do.

“Don’t hit me with your dumb horse!” Juno protested.

“Don’t take that personally, darling,” Perseus replied, though Juno couldn’t exactly tell which one of them he was talking to.

Before Juno could even bother to wince against the strike of feathers or fangs, he felt a sword collide with one of his chained wrists with a crash and a wave of sparks like a hammer in a forge. He felt himself gasp when his arm fell away from the cliff, and he was barely saved from crumpling by the support of the metal shackle around his other wrist.

“Take this,” Perseus insisted, pressing the hilt of his sword into Juno’s hand while Ruby landed roughly upon the crag of the cliff. “I’ll distract the monster until you can free yourself.”

Juno opened his mouth to reply, but Ruby had already taken off, as light as a leaf floating through the breeze as she swirled and dipped above the ocean. Once or twice, the beast raised a snakelike head from the water to snap at her hooves, but it was far too slow, as she danced through the air like an artist’s brush upon a painting. 

Even as he began to saw through the remainder of his chains, Juno felt his eyes lost upon Perseus, whose determination was etched into his face like the lines in a precious gem. His eyes blazed with quiet fire while his hands, clever and precise, dug into Ruby’s bridle and directed her in great circles and dips and lines. Juno barely noticed when he freed his second foot, for Perseus had tricked the monster into diving away and let out a joyful gust of laughter, like the wind itself rearing its head back to crow its victorious song.

Glee burst across his face like a comet winking in the sky above, fiery and violent and beautiful all at once. He bared his teeth, glinting and sharp and looking even more ferocious than the snapping maw of the beast. Juno felt his heart skip a few too many beats at the sight, though he supposed it might just have been adrenaline.

Perseus could not keep the beast from him forever. Even if Ruby taunted in front of its gaping maw as it rose from the ocean like a great, underwater cavern slithering its way onto the sand, it merely lashed at her with one slimy appendage until the way towards Juno was clear. 

“I can try to land her on the cliff face—” Perseus started, his once victorious voice high and reedy and betraying a slight shake as he tried and failed to distract the serpent once more, this time nearly losing his balance and falling into the wine-dark void below.

“It’ll kill you,” Juno shot back. He twirled Perseus’s sword in his hand, sharing a single glance with his reflection in the blade.

With his teeth bared and his scars slashing across his face, Juno locked eyes with his own mirror in the metal. He swallowed and nodded once, looking back up before the scaly, slimy mass could worm its way any closer. He felt his gritted teeth pull into something akin to a smile when he lashed out with the sword, knowing he looked far more fearsome than the creature.

When the blade sank into the neck of the beast, the noise that sputtered from its throat in tandem with the blood and chunks of salty flesh left Juno’s ears ringing. He backed away from the beast’s limp head, watching as its fangs continued to drip and sizzle with the acid of a venom he never wanted to deal with up close.

Juno’s heart pounded so ferociously that he hadn’t realized he was caked in the oily black sheen of blood until Perseus had dismounted at his side and retrieved a cloth to clean his face.

“Juno,” Perseus began gently, though giddiness was evident in his words. “You were wonderful, my dear.”

He nodded a little vaguely in response until the cloth pulled away and his eyes fixed on Perseus’s glowing grin. Even if he would probably get turned into a shrub or something for saying it, Juno couldn’t help but think that the sun chariot must have shone half as brightly as his smile.

He hadn’t even noticed he was returning the look until Perseus took him by his free, still-shackled hand and squeezed. 

“Yeah,” Juno stammered out. “I really killed that thing, huh?”

“And now you don’t have to marry anyone,” Perseus chuckled. 

“I dunno,” Juno laughed. “Are you free tomorrow?”

“Quite forward of you,” he pretended to protest, though Ruby nudged Perseus with her snout so he all but fell into Juno, who caught him in his arms. 

Juno prepared to back away, but Ruby caught his eye with the closest to a glare he had ever seen a horse muster, so he kept his hands in place. Perseus hardly seemed to mind, though the surety of his grin faltered for a moment when his eyes fell to Juno’s lips.

“You really are a goddess,” he mused.

Juno shot a quick glance skywards, waiting for one or both of them to turn into a cow. When the general company on the cliffside became no more bovine, he let out a joking sigh of relief, while Perseus let out a chuckle. 

“If you really do wish to know,” Perseus continued. “My name before I was nameless was Peter Nureyev. If you wish to call me that now, I would not stop you. You likely saved my life today, so I hope this might begin to repay the favor.”

“You saved mine first, Peter Nureyev,” Juno shrugged. “Does that make us even?”

“I don’t try to count favors, dear,” Nureyev smiled. “Though, perhaps I might do you another and rescue you in return. I had heard this particular state was sacrificing citizens to keep the monster sated, though I do not wish to make acquaintance with the queen if she would chain her own son to a cliff.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve had enough of her acquaintance for a lifetime,” Juno sighed. “Think your horse can take two?”

Ruby huffed, as if offended by his comment.

“Geez,” Juno snorted.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Nureyev grinned as he swung a leg back over his steed and offered Juno his hand up into the saddle. 

Juno took his hand, the wind feeling far more potent between his fingers when tragically, their grasp was forced to part. As if sensing his disappointment, Nureyev turned around and fixed him with a smile.

“Hold onto my waist,” he instructed, making no effort to conceal the way he leaned back into Juno’s touch and let out a pleasant little sigh, even as Ruby took off, soaring above the cliffs and the ocean and the city Juno had once considered his home.

Juno squeezed his eyes shut, though not merely because of his fear of heights. He did not particularly want to spare a glance for a city that had ripped him to shreds or for his mother, who had allowed it. Just because Hyperion City must have been small and insignificant from such a height did not mean that he had to look down and appreciate that fact.

What mattered was not that it was getting small in the distance, but rather, that it continued getting smaller as he held tight to the near-stranger who had saved his life for nothing in return. 

For all Hyperion needed to know, the monster devoured him in a single bite, leaving no remnants of former princess Juno Steel. 

When he felt Ruby dip a little lower, the city having passed and the need to conceal Juno’s face passing with it, Juno sighed and allowed his eyes to open. 

He heard himself gasp at the sight of an orange and pink sky blazing over the sea, as if painted by some adoring hand just for him and Peter Nureyev to appreciate.

“Half as beautiful as you, my dear,” Nureyev chuckled.

“Shut up,” Juno snorted just to pretend his heart hadn’t skipped a beat or two when Nureyev spoke. “Where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know,” Nureyev mused. “Where do you want to go?”

**Author's Note:**

> i didnt realize this was funny and like. not just dramatic until after i wrote it isnt that wack
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!! Make sure to SMASH that kudos button and leave a comment down below or I'll tell you where the mcdonald's filet o fish come from
> 
> Check me out on tumblr @hopeless-eccentric (where im still taking FREE penumbra commissions) or on twitter @withane22 !!


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